The Jury Is Out
by xyellowconverse
Summary: Lily Evans, tired of getting asked out and followed around by James Potter, tells him that she'll only date him if he can convinced all six of her roommates she should go out with him. Not all of her roommates were enthusiastic to play jury, especially violence and sarcasm prone roommate Rose Atwell who just wants to get through her Sixth Year in peace. Sirius/OFC, James/Lily
1. Chapter 1

Sixth Year was a blessing. Well, maybe not all of Rose's fellow students would've agreed with her about it because it did have a heavier homework load than the years before. Still, it was a respite between the stress of O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. All she wanted to do was take advantage of the (relative) calm before the storm before the insanity of Seventh Year kicked in.

Her plan went along without a hitch until early December. There weren't any big, screaming warning signs going off to alert her that the calm was ending. She was studying in the Common Room like any other day. Well, no, she had more company than usual. In fact, most of her roommates were there. Mary MacDonald was there to get help with a Defense Against the Dark Arts paper. Marlene McKinnon was there too with Ceri Cauldwell, though they didn't seem too interested in school work. They were far too busy trying to get Nina Fisher and Rose's best mate. Cait Michelakis to spill about catching one of the Hufflepuff Chasers with his trousers down (literally). Nina seemed to be enjoying the attention but Cait looked like she wanted to hex all of them. As entertaining as Rose would've found that, she hoped Cait wouldn't. It'd cause a scene and Marlene would pout questioned. A pouting roommate was not conducive to revising Transfiguration.

In hindsight, she should've known something was going to go wrong. She rarely spent time with her roommates and for good reason. While she liked each of them well enough individually, she tended to find the group of them taxing in large doses. Mary had the disposition of a wounded kitten most of the time and Ceri was one of the biggest gossips that Hogwarts had ever seen. Paired with Marlene's need for dramatics and Nina's need for attention, Rose would usually rather spend the time with a Devil's Snare after about a half an hour in.

The relative peace was shattered when the portrait hole swung open and an irate Lily Evans came storming into the Common Room with James Potter short on her heels. Like always, James' mates, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew followed close behind him.

"How many times do I have to say 'no' for you to get it through your thick skull, Potter?! I'm not interested!" Lily exclaimed, her flushed cheeks nearly the same shade as her ginger hair. "Not this Hogsmeade trip, not ever! Never!"

This wasn't the first time Rose watched Lily reject James. This wasn't even the most public or humiliating time she'd watched. In fact, it was at least the third time that week. The only thing Rose could see in the pair of them that suggested they'd make a decent couple was that they were both obscenely bullheaded. He'd been chasing Lily since they were twelve and she'd been rejecting him vehemently just as long.

"Evans, I don't think you're being reasonable," James told her, being as much of an idiot as usual. "You can't turn me down forever. Why won't you just consider it?"

"No!" Lily snapped and Rose wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't whip out her wand soon. "Never, Potter! I'd rather go with the Giant Squid!"

"There goes my date," Cait muttered, causing Nina and Ceri to titter.

James eyed the offending parties contemplatively, as if deciding whether to jinx them for laughing at him. He must've decided against it, though, as his attention went back to Lily. "You aren't being fair about this," he insisted.

Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes. She'd been listening to the same argument for nearly four years. It'd been months since Lily or James used new material in this little sessions like this. It would likely dissolve into childish name-calling that Rose has come to expect whenever the pair was in the same room for too long. It made her think neither of them were mature enough for any kind of romantic relationship, no matter who it was with.

"This isn't primary school. I don't have to have a play date with you just to spare hurting your feelings, Potter," Lily retorted.

Ceri giggled behind her hand but it wasn't enough to stifle the noise.

James narrowed his eyes at her. Apparently he could write off being laughed at once but his ego couldn't handle it twice. "Something funny, Cauldwell?"

Ceri blanched. James Potter was not the kind of person you wanted as an enemy. Lily was likely the only person who could insult him without fear of retaliation. Maybe Sirius or Remus but Rose wasn't entirely sure about it.

Ceri seemed to shrink under James' gaze, undoubtedly thinking of his reputation for pranking and humiliating people who offended him. He usually stuck with Slytherins but it wasn't exclusive. His reputation as a duellist probably didn't help calm her either.

Rose, however, didn't have the same sense of self-preservation. "Of course it's funny, Potter," she informed him with an air of disinterest, turning the page in her textbook. "It's always a laugh to watch you make a prat of yourself."

Cait snickered while Nina and Marlene giggled. Lily didn't even bother to hide her pleased smile. She wouldn't have been surprised if Lily got her a bar of Honeydukes Finest for the show. The ginger seemed to do that sort of thing when someone took on James' ego.

His attention turned to her, though it was more hesitant than with Ceri. She did have a reputation of her own as someone not to cross. While it may not have been as popular of a topic as his, it was hard to ignore.

Lily spoke while he was obviously mulling over it was worth threatening Rose. "That's it," she announced, green eyes bright.

He looked at her with interest, "What is?"

"I'll go on a date with you _if_ you convince them you're worth dating," Lily announced, nodding to her roommates who seemed to all have given up on studying.

Rose's eyes nearly hit her hairline as she realized that she was included in the "them". "I beg your pardon?!"

James and Lily ignored her. "Convince all six of them before graduation and I'll go on a date with you _but_ you don't get to ask me out until you've convinced them. No sonnets, no pet names, no chocolates, no inappropriate proclamations, no following me around. You either convince them by graduation or 'no' will always be my answer. Final offer."

James scanned over the six "jurors" before nodding twice, "I agree."

"I don't," Rose argued, watching her hopes of a quiet Sixth Year burn in front of her. She didn't want his obsessive attention focused on her. He didn't even like her enough to not try to hex her into agreement.

"Lovely," Lily drawled, ignoring her protest. The ginger disappeared up the stairs, escaping before he could change his mind.

Rose gave Cait a "can-you-believe-this-bullocks" look, which earned a shrug in reply. "Agreement or not, I'll still hex you into oblivion if you harass me," Rose informed the boys airily as she collected her books. "Cait?"

Cait nodded, gathering her own books. "Good luck," she smirked at the boys before following Rose out of the Common Room and through the portrait hole.

Rose threw up a Shield Charm before someone managed to hit them with a jinx. "Amateurs," she muttered as she heard it bounce off the Shield, making Cait smile.

They found their way to the Hufflepuff Common Room, muttering to each other about self-serving gingers and arrogant berks the whole way. Rose continued mumbling as they plopped down to her brother on a golden couch, much to Sebastian's amusement.

"Something wrong?" he questioned as Cait threw her bag on the ground and Rose pulled out her Transfiguration textbook.

"Did you finish memorizing the ingredients for a Memory Potion?" she questioned, refinding her page.

"Erm no."

"Then I'll answer that question when you have," she replied evenly.

Cait snorted, "If this is the way you treat your brother then I'm glad I'm an only child."

"You know, Rosie, when I asked for your help to study I really wasn't looking for you to become my drill sergeant. I just wanted you to quiz me and maybe help me with a couple charms."

"Shut up and study," she told him dismissively. "This is your Seventh Year. You need to buckle down."

He sighed and she saw him roll his eyes in her peripheral vision. "Memory Potions it is then."

"Please tell you don't plan for becoming a professor. I would hate to have you in a class," Cait told her.

She rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the comment in favor of focusing on her studies. She was content to study in silence with the familiar warmth of Sebastian next to her. It reminded her a little of hiding in the Attic with him and Aggie while their parents had one of their particularly bad arguments. She almost felt bad for leaving Aggie in the Ravenclaw Tower instead of inviting her to join them but their little sister was worse at studying than Sebastian. Aggie was an almost wickedly smart Second Year who hasn't learned to study yet. She got away with talent and good memorization skills. Rose might've been able to get away with not studying Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts but Transfiguration and Potions definitely required extra attention. She wasn't sure how well Herbology would go without studying but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

"You're really not going to tell me until I memorize this stupid potion?" Sebastian questioned skeptically, eyeing her over his textbook. He'd only lasted twenty minutes.

Cait took pity on him. "You know how James Potter is always chasing after Lily Evans?"

He snorted and nodded, "Everyone knows that, Caitie."

"Well what everyone doesn't know is that she and Potter entered an agreement half an hour ago that she'll only date him if he convinces every one of her roommates she should."

He laughed, brown eyes dancing with amusement, "Really? Why would she have done that?"

"He isn't allowed to ask her out or write her poetry or stalk he or pretty much anything he's been doing since Second Year," Cait explained.

"Apparently she's decided she's tired of him harassing her so it's our turn," Rose added bitterly.

"Well that's rubbish but it doesn't have to be," he pointed out. "Come on. You two are too smart to just let them drag you through this. Potter can only give you trouble if you play along with their game. Just tell her to date him. If he's got your recommendation then he doesn't have a reason to bother you."

Rose gave him an unimpressed look, "I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal. That doesn't sound like very loyal advice. "

"You're my sister. I want you to be happy more than anything. Besides, I don't think Hogwarts would survive you going to war with the Marauders. This way keeps the peace. You don't owe her anything," he shrugged.

"She might be your sister but what about me?" Cait challenged.

"The future mother of my children, of course," he informed her with a grin.

Rose made a retching noise, "Don't start that up again. There are rules about brothers flirting with their sisters' friends in front of them."

"What is it that you always say? 'Hang the rules'?" Cait teased.

"Not this rule. I like this rule," she replied before pausing. He was right, though. She felt a little wrong even entertaining the idea of giving into James. It didn't necessarily feel as wrong as spending the next year and a half with the Marauders chasing after it. It was pretty close, though. "Disgustingness aside, Bas, I guess you can be smart about some things sometimes," she admitted to him. "Now shut up and study."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Surprise, I'm back! I never thought I'd come back to the world of writing Harry Potter fan fiction. I really thought I was done with this part of my life but then I would a couple of old notebooks from my high school years with snippets of badly written fan fiction and well… I guess it made me remember how much I missed it and it made me want to see how much I'm improved. Also, I missed my old readers who I left in the lurch when I abandoned my older stories before… Sorry! I have the next chapter and a half written with a clear idea of where we're going so I will do my best to get this up as soon as possible (and before I forget about it).**


	2. Chapter 2

Rose spent the night at Sebastian's, no wanting to deal with Lily or the Marauders. Cait elected to return to the Tower, muttering something about "panda eyes" and "snoring".

The next morning she rose before the sun and wandered back to her dormitory. She never considered herself to be a morning person but she loved that time of day. The castle was still quiet and almost dreamlike with the hazy first light of day creeping in the windows. It was peaceful, like the calm before the storm that inevitably came whenever the school population was finally awake.

"Amortentia," she told the sleepy portrait of a pudgy woman in front of the Common Room. The portrait murmured in acknowledgement and swung open, letting her inside the maroon and gold Common Room.

She walked inside, passing the empty Common Room and up the stairs towards the Girls' Dormitory. The Sixth Year Dormitory was nearly silent with the exception of Mary's soft snoring. Success! She padded to her trunk, quietly toeing off her shoes as she searched for a clean uniform. Sharing a bathroom with six other girls meant showers, or rather fighting over them, was practically a bloodsport. If she was the only one awake then she didn't have to club anyone to death to get her share of hot water.

Armed with a change of clean clothes, she locked herself in the bathroom. It'd be at least half an hour until someone started banging down the door for their turn but she only needed twenty minutes for this to be her longest uninterrupted shower of the school year.

Clean after her shower, she dried herself with a hot-air charm before getting dressed. She hummed a song by the Bugs or the Beetles or something. As a product of two well-established Wizarding families, she hadn't had much exposure to Muggle anything. She'd learned a little from living with Lily, who was a Muggleborn and Nina, whose father was a Muggle but nothing really stuck until her father started to date Cynthia, a Muggleborn American, after the divorce was finalized.

She couldn't say she was surprised when her Dad, Craig Atwell, decided to expand his horizons in the dating world. Though the Atwells were an older Wizarding family, they were fairly liberal, especially compared to other established families, such as the Blacks and Malfoys. Her parents' decision to get a divorce had been originally met with scandalized opposition. Divorce was becoming increasingly popular in the Muggle world but it was still relatively unheard of in the Wizarding World. Still, Craig and Emily Atwell were divorced when it became clear neither of their families could talk them out of it. She relocated to California with promises to visit and he began dating a vaguely age appropriate (only nearly ten years younger) Yankee woman. The families accepted it begrudgingly and life went on without the drama of disownment and scandals.

Rose liked to think she took more after her Dad's side than her Mum's. Physically she took more after her Mum. She had the same dark curls and heart shaped face. Her Mum said it was "timeless beauty", whatever that mean. She didn't have really mind taking after her Mum like that, preferring it to her Dad's side's plain brown eyes with brown hair and a round face. Still, personality-wise, she liked to think she took more at after her paternal side. Not necessarily her Dad exactly as he was prone to making bad jokes and being too eager to please. Maybe more like his independent little sister who was now traipsing through southern Asia as a Daily Prophet correspondent. Aunt Ruby was definitely who she wanted to be when she grew up. Well, she wanted to invent spells instead of being a reporter but still.

She put on her mascara and eyeliner, knowing she was running out of time before someone inevitably kicked her out of the bathroom. They hadn't yet, though, so she took advantage of it. She wiped on her cherry red lipstick and pinned back her fringe.

Convinced that she'd be faced with passive aggressive roommates if she hogged the bathroom any longer, she conceded it to the next person. She unlocked the door and ducked outside.

Lily seemed to be the only one awake when she came out. The ginger gave her a vaguely guilty tight smile before ducking into the steamy bathroom.

Rose scowled at the now shut door. Lily had better feel guilty after what she'd done the night before. It didn't matter, though, because Rose wouldn't feel guilty when she told Lily as earnestly as she could to go on a date with James.

She sat on the edge of her bed and began pulling on her tights. She was over the whole uniform thing. She couldn't wait to graduate so she could be done with the tights and pleated skirt. Oh and bloody robes too.

Lily took considerably less time than Rose had in the shower but Cait and Mary were already stirring by the time she was done. Marlene had a free period first things on Monday mornings and usually couldn't be tempted by the promise of breakfast to get out of bed before at least ten. Nina and Ceri generally needed threats of bodily harm to get them up in the morning but Rose generally didn't take on that responsibility. They was part of Marlene and Lily's group so they could be responsible for her.

She wouldn't really consider herself to be close to most of her roommates. Cait was the exception, of course. They'd bonded immediately in First Year over a mutual love of sarcasm and violence. She could be close to Mary occasionally but only when her maternal instincts were feeling particularly strong. She liked Lily, Marlene, and Nina but they never really clicked, despite years of living together.

"How do you like it?" Cait asked, braiding her hair as she nodded to a new addition on the dorm wall.

It was a piece of parchment with every one of the roommates' names on it but Lily's. Next to Marlene's name was yesterday's date.

"What is it?" Rose questioned, slipping on her shoes.

"Our way of tracking who gives into Potter," Cait replied with an almost amused smirk. She didn't seem to feel the same level of annoyance over the situation as Rose. "Marlene have in last night. The Marauders didn't even have to work her over."

"So when you give in, you just write the date? Got a quill?"

Lily was straightening her hair with wand, her green eyes nearly bulging, "What?! No! You can't give in! You're the reason I came up with this idea! Potter's never going to be enough to get to you."

"Oi, you put a prat with an obsessive attention span on my arse. What did you expect? That I'd just let Potter and his gang harass for a year and a half? Crack job making it last until graduation. Why didn't you just give him a week or a month like normal person?" Rose demanded. She looked at Cait, "You thinking about playing along?"

Cait shrugged, "I don't mind having something on Potter."

She had to give Cait that one. Having something like this to lord over James might've been something to… No. "I'm not agreeing to this."

"No, please. If there's one person who can hold off Potter, it's you. You and Cait are my only hope. Marlene already have up and Nina will as soon as Black flashed a smile at her. Mary won't make it through the week. Ceri - Well, it might take more than a smile from Black to win her over but she still won't last until New Year's. I can't go out with Potter. I'd end up murdering him halfway through our Azkaban, do you?"

Cait shrugged again, "I'll do it if Rose does it."

Rose glared glared at her best friend, who looked entirely nonplussed about the whole thing. To be fair, it was still early. "Really?"

"I'm not being the only one standing for that long," Cait replied unrepentantly.

Lily eyed Rose hopefully, "What about you?"

Rose sighed. She really didn't want to deal with the Marauders after her for the foreseeable future. She didn't necessarily James to win so easily either and she didn't want Cait to have to be the only one holding on either. She wasn't sure she could stomach that.

She eyed Lily. She might've been a Gryffindor but there was a reason why then Sorting Hat had waffled between Slytherin and Ravenclaw before deciding on Gryffindor. She might not have been Aggie smart but she liked to consider herself pretty clever about most things. She could accept that maybe she was a little more self-service than the average Gryffindor. That didn't bother her. It did, however, show her when there was an opportunity to take advantage of.

She sighed, "Okay fine. I'll play along but if we have to deal with the Marauders interrupting our studying then I'm going to need extra help. How about you move to our table in Potions?"

Lily bobbed her head eagerly, "Of course."

"And we're in the opposite corner of the classroom from the Marauders," Cait added.

"Doubly sold. Thank you for this, both of you " Lily gave the pair a bright smile before rushing off to get ready.

Cait raised an eyebrow at Rose once she was gone, "Potions? Really?"

Rose shrugged, unabashed, "Don't act like we don't need it. You're worse at Potions than me."

Cait rolled her eyes, "You're ridiculous."

"I'm realistic. Besides, I could've asked for a lot more."

She snorted but nodded agreeingly, "Let me go brush my teeth and then we can head down."

Rose nodded, turning to pack her bookbag. Monday mornings were the worst schedule-wise. It started with Transfiguration and then it was Potions, which were what she found to be her most difficult classes. Then she had Herbology in the afternoon, which she didn't mind but it could be a chilly walk in December. She much preferred Fridays when she had double Charms and then the rest of the day off. Tuesdays weren't horrible with just double Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Still, she hated Mondays.

"Ready?" Cait questioned, slipping on her Wellies. Rose wasn't sure what but she seemed to be only wearing Wellies, even in July heat.

Rose nodded, "Let's go. I want to actually eat something before Marlene and Dirk make me too nauseous. "

Cait snorted. It was common knowledge that Marlene and Dirk Cresswell, a Hufflepuff a year behind them, were in the disgustingly adorable beginning of a relationship that Rose suspected would be short-lived. Marlene had a short attention span and a tendency to be madly in love until she got bored. Rose would've been surprised if they made through the holidays.

The Great Hall was sleepily coming to life when the pair arrived. Even the Staff Table seemed to be sluggish and subdued. Rose and Cait found themselves a seat in the empty middle section of the Gryffindor table.

"How long do you think it'll be before you and I are the only ones left? " Cait questioned conversationally, bringing the topic Rose wanted to forget while she helped herself to the eggs.

Rose paused to consider the idea while she poured herself a cup or coffee. "Well, Marlene's out. Mary won't make it to the end of the week. Nina might make it to the holidays but only if she isn't left alone with the Marauders. Lily will have to make her feel special because if the Marauders do it first then she'll be out any minute. Ceri might take a little while longer. She's ambitious. She'll make the Marauders work for it, especially Black. Honestly I'll be surprised if any of them last until February. "

Cait nodded in agreement, "If Lily's smart, she'll keep Nina and Mary close. Poor Mary gets so easily overwhelmed."

Rose nodded back, focusing on her coffee.

Students slowly trickled in as the girls enjoyed their breakfast. Rose planned to finish her coffee and toast before she and Cait disappeared, missing the Marauders entirely. Those boys we have hardly the type to show up more than fifteen minutes before the end of breakfast. Rose figured she had plenty of time.

She was wrong. The four boys arrived during the apex of dinner, looking more presentable than they unusually did in in the morning. She wasn't exactly sure why they had so many… admirers. Remus was decent on his own but he tended to be at least tolerant, if not encouraging, of his mates' prattish behavior when with James and Sirius. James… Well, she was pretty certain that they were related one way or another (the way most "Purebloods" were) do she didn't like to think about him… physically. Sirius had a kind of a "handsome without trying" type going for him but he was too arrogant for her to think that somehow his good looks balanced out his personality. Peter… well, none of the admirers were his and for good reason. He certainly wasn't attractive on his own and he looked even worse in comparison to his companions.

"I think we're safe for a minute," Cait announced after she finished her kippers, nodding to the way Sirius and James were flanking around Mary.

"Lily's a goner," Rose agreed. "She should have strategized better. Leaving Mary in the wide open was a mistake."

Cait nodded, "Looks like it may be just you and me by Christmas."

"Well at least they're targeting the weaker targets first," Rose shrugged before draining the rest of her coffee. "That hopefully means we get a few weeks of peace before they turn onto us."

"Then let's take advantage of the quiet while we can," Cait suggested, heaving her book bag onto her shoulder.

"Couldn't agree more." Rose pulled on her own bag, "To Transfiguration? "

"Might as well," Cait sighed begrudgingly.

"Oh cheer up you," she told the raven-haired girl as they left the table. "Just think Mary isn't taking Tranfig but the Marauders are. Well… maybe not Pettigrew but he hardly counts."

"So?" Cait questioned, gesturing for her to explain.

"So do you think Black is going to try to seduce Ceri or Nina first? " she mused. "If the stick with their 'weakest targets first' methods then definitely Nina. There's always a chance that the poor lamb will hyperventilate or go into shock when he starts talking to her. Then again, Ceri'll take longer so they might start on her."

Cait gave her a judgemental look, "Are you really finding entertainment in the prospect of Nina suffering? You really should be a Snake." Cait paused for a moment, "A Galleon that he tries to flirt with Mary and she hyperventilates."

She gave her a cat-like grin. There was a reason they got along. "A Galleon that he tries to flirt with Nina and she runs away."

"Deal."

The pair shook hands over the bet and she couldn't help but think that maybe, despite the inevitable harassment, this year as going to be an interesting year.


	3. Chapter 3

It turned out that both Rose and Cait were right about Sirius targeting Nina. That meant the pair spent more time snickering over the Gryffindor boy's attempt to charming than actual Transfiguration. It wouldn't have bothered Rose so much if it were one of her better subjects. Still, that didn't stop her from watching the in-class amusement.

Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor, was a tight-lipped no nonsense Scottish woman. She also happened to be the Head of Gryffindor House and an Animagus. Rose might've not been a fan of Transfiguration as a class but she had to concede that McGonagall was tough but fair as well as one of the most capable professors at Hogwarts (if not the most). The Scotswoman was also the most consistent at reigning in the Marauders.

Today, though, McGonagall seemed to be more lenient than usual. She didn't call James out for not paying attention to the lesson or Nina for giggling nervously while Sirius made a suggestive comment. If Rose didn't know better than she would've accused McGonagall for going soft. Of course, she did know better and she wouldn't have been surprised if the professor had an impromptu exam to teach them the importance of paying attention.

She wouldn't necessarily say that Sirius was doing a bad job of flirting with Nina. He was probably the best bloke at Hogwarts for the task. Still, she knew exactly why he was doing it so it wasn't ever going to look natural, despite what Nina seemed to fall for or how charming he was. It didn't help that she was skeptical naturally.

She watched the interaction between Sirius and Nina with an amused interest. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted Nina to hold on or not. If Nina gave in then the girl would at least no longer be a target anymore. He wouldn't have any reason to string her along if she didn't have anything he wanted.

As interested as she seemed in the attention, she also looked uncomfortable and out of her depth. She was smiling but it was starting to look more and more panicked as he showed her more interest.

"She's going to pass out," Cait whispered victoriously to Rose. "Any minute now."

Rose shook her head lightly, "No, she's going to bolt."

Nina did look a little unsteady in her chair as Sirius talked to her though. She was rarely ever the center of attention so Rose could hardly blame her for the discomfort. Rose didn't want to be cruel but in the group of Lily, Ceri, Marlene, and Nina, she was most definitely the Peter Pettigrew in that friendship. She might not have been as unattractive or as socially awkward as Peter but she definitely suffered from being overshadowed by more attractive, popular friends. It wasn't her fault. It was hard not to be overlooked when surrounded by women with modelesque looks.

Sirius leaned in closer to her, probably to make a suggestive comment but Rose was too far away to hear for sure. She stood straight up, wild eyed and bewildered. She let out a squeaky excuse that sounded vaguely like "I need to go to the Hospital Wing" before disappearing from the room at top speed.

Cait groaned and Rose couldn't help but laugh, taking advantage of McGonagall's temporarily distracted attention as the professor stared after where Nina had disappeared Rose tried to keep her laughter quiet enough that McGonagall still wouldn't hear it and she seemed to be successful but she was loud enough to catch Sirius' attention.

For a pretty bloke, he gave her an absolutely ugly glare. Apparently he didn't find the humor in Nina running away from him.

She didn't bother to look apologetic. Instead, she turned and spoke to Cait in the quietest voice she knew he could hear a row away, "I told you she'd run."

Cait seemed to catch onto what Rose was doing, heaving a heavy sigh. "I was she she'd just hyperventilate." She dug a Galleon out of her bookbag and made a public display of handing it to Rose, "You win."

Sirius looked like he wanted to throttle the pair of them and it was the most entertaining class that she'd been to in a long time. She considered making a public show of insinuating that James was whoring him out but decided against it. As much as she liked getting a rise out of him, she didn't necessarily want to start a war where there were so many witnesses.

She decided, instead, to ignore him, dedicating her attention to the lesson as McGonagall reiterated the reading they were supposed to do over the weekend. It was a relatively interesting subject on human Transfiguration. She'd done the reading but she wasn't entirely sure that she fully understood the material.

She was frantically writing her notes when the piece of parchment arrived on her desk. She could tell the signs of a note when it landed gracefully on the corner of her desk. She ignored it in favor of focusing on listening to McGonagall list the possible ill effects of unsuccessful human Transfiguration.

Cait nudged her in the side to get her attention. She she got it, she nodded insistently to the parchment.

Rose rolled her eyes. She felt a little old to be passing notes during a lesson. Still, she let out a long-suffering sigh and opened the note. It didn't immediately explode, which she considered to be a good start.

 _Why's Black glaring at you? - Bertram_

She tried not to smile. Bertram Aubrey had been her… flirtation for nearing six months. She'd met him through Sebastian, who shared a House with him. She wasn't entirely sure if their… arrangement was going to change. Bertram hadn't made any progress past flirting and she'd gone on a Hogsmeade trip already that school year without him even making an attempt to ask her to go with him. She doubted he ever would. Still, she didn't necessarily mind the attention.

 _I told him that I wouldn't carry his love child. Apparently he holds a grudge. - Rose_

She flicked the note back to the blond-haired Hufflepuff with a wave of her wand. She didn't watch him as he read the note, though, and she most definitely didn't smile when he rolled his eyes. She was far too busy paying attention to McGonagall.

She didn't immediately read the note because she did have a reputation to uphold. She couldn't be seen as overly eager. She got to it as McGonagall took a question from the front row.

 _The idea makes me positively green and I'm not certain if it's with jealousy or nausea. What's the real story? - B_

 _Apparently he doesn't like that I find amusement in his failed attempts at flirting. - R_

Bertram's amused look didn't make her smile as much as she did when he rolled his eyes but she still considered it a success. He probably wouldn't ever ask her out and she knew that whatever this was between them was likely going nowhere but she didn't mind so much. It was a fun distraction.

 _You mean the thing with Fisher? Bloke must be losing his touch. I don't really see why he was trying, though. She seems below his league. - B_

She couldn't help but agree with his assessment. She couldn't fault Nina fault for physical appearance. Nina was pretty or at least decent but she did look young for her age, though, with honey blond hair, blue eyes, and a round face. She was short for her age too, often getting mistaken for a younger student. She had shed her baby fat Fourth Year but she wasn't nearly as developed as her friends. Sirius didn't really have a reputation for having an interest in anyone who wasn't the pick of the litter. Nina certainly wasn't that physically and intellectually she was likely average at best.

 _She's got something that he wants. - R_

 _I didn't think he was THAT much of a virgin hunter. - B_

She snorted, catching the attention of Cait. She waved it off, not wanting Cait to think too much of it.

 _It's not that. Well… it might be that too but mostly it's Lily Evans. He wants her to say that she should date Potter. - R_

 _I have no idea what that has to do with anything but I'm intrigued. Tell me everything. - B_

She rolled her eyes. He was such a gossip. He was almost as bad as her maternal great aunts.

 _Evans said she'd go on a date with Potter if her roommates said she should. Potter already got one. Apparently he's whoring Black out to get the rest. - R_

 _Should I be worried about him coming after you. - B_

 _Why would you be? - R_

 _You know why. - B_

Her stomach only did a little somersault. She reminded herself that this feeling wasn't caused by Bertram personally. This was just a need for attention.

 _I don't know but I wouldn't be. Black knows he can't seduced me into doing anything for Potter. They'll probably try violence or blackmail. Either way, should be great fun. - R_

 _If he lays a hand on you, I'll curse his face off. - B_

 _Are you this overprotective with all your housemate's sisters? - R_

 _Only you, Rosie. - B_

She made a show of rolling her eyes, even though his proclamation pleased her. She wasn't entirely sure if she liked him calling her by the nickname only her family used. It almost seemed too intimate for their in-between relationship.

She decided against writing back, unsure of what she should say and not wanting to push her luck that McGonagall would keep ignoring the note passing.

Transfiguration ended finally and Rose was glad to finally get out of that classroom. Being in Transfiguration lessons always made her feel stupid for some reason. Transfiguration was always something she really struggled to understand. It was like trying to understand Greek without Cait to translate for her. She was beginning to pick out and understand certain phrases and larger concepts but the specifics were a struggle. Potions was hard for her but at least she didn't feel stupid there.

Bertram caught up with her and Cait in the corridor, hooking the elbows, "Hello darling. Walk with me to Potions?"

Cait immediately bailed, "My gag reflex can't handle this so early in the morning. See you there, Rose."

Alone, Rose eyed him suspiciously, "You're in too good of a mood. Are you pissed?"

"What? No," he scoffed. "I'm not drunk."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Have you been smoking something?"

He grinned and gave her a too innocent shrug, "Not yet."

She gave him a knowing look, "You aren't going to Potions, are you?"

He ruffled her hair, earning a scowl, "My Rosie is so smart. Care to join? It'll just be a couple of us from Hufflepuff, maybe a Ravenclaw or two."

"You know how I feel about skiving off lessons."

"Yeah, I remember dragging you to the Hospital Wing when you had Dragon Pox because you wouldn't miss Herbology. Still, I had to try. Will you be around my Common Room tonight?"

"I doubt it," she replied. She didn't care much about smoking one way or another but she knew she wasn't likely to get much studying done if she was around him and his mates while they were high.

"Well try, would you?" he told her. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"I was in your Common Room most of last night," she pointed out as they still headed towards the dungeons.

"You were? Well, I had detention for Filch or I would've spent the night with you," he explained with a sour look as he mentioned the castle's caretaker, Argus Filch, who was a universally disliked and sadistic member of Hogwarts' staff.

"Detention? What for?"

"Eh, I got caught out of my dorm after curfew. Look, I should head back to the Common Room. If old Sluggy catches me then I'm stuck going to his class. I'll catch you later, alright? Don't let anything interesting happen without me." He gave her a wink before untangling their arms and meandering towards the Hufflepuff Common Room.

With him gone, she had to rush to the Potions classroom before she was tardy. Cait and Lily were already waiting for her at their table with Mary. Nina hadn't seemed to show up yet. She had to wonder if the blond was planning to come at all or if Nina was just going to stay in hiding from Sirius.

"For a second I thought Bert convinced you to skip," Cait told her in lieu of greeting as she found her seat.

"Doubtful," she scoffed as she pulled out her textbook. "He's not that persuasive."

"Bert? Bertram Aubrey? Oh, are you two dating?" Lily questioned conversationally.

Rose shook her head, "No, he's just a mate."

"Because he doesn't have the nerve to ask her out," Cait added bluntly.

She rolled her eyes. This wasn't a conversation she liked talking about with Cait. It always ended with having to convince Cait not to march over to Bertram and have a go at him for being a coward. "Shut up. Slughorn's staring."

Professor Slughorn was a walrus of a man and the school's Potions Master. He was also the Head of Slytherin and one of the most ambitious men she'd ever met. He liked to hitch himself to any student he saw as a rising star, which is why he formed Slug Club, a social club where he liked to heap favoritism (and alcohol) onto students in hopes of taking advantage of their success later in life. Rose was often invited for her family and her gifts in Charms. Lily, James, and Sirius were the only other Gryffindors in their year to warrant invitations. Mary used to be invited before the incident the previous school year. After Vincent Mulciber, a Slytherin their year, attacked her, she hadn't been the same and Slughorn seemed to have given up on her.

"Good morning, students," Slughorn welcomed them from the front of the classroom. "Today we will be focusing on brewing a Draught of Living Death. Who here can tell me what this potion does?"

Lily's hand shot up, along with a handful of others. Lily, being Slughorn's favorite, was naturally the one he called on. "Miss Evans?"

"The Draught of Living Death is a very powerful sleeping draught. It sends the drinker into a sleep so deep that it mimics deaths," Lily informed him, sounding like she was regurgitating a textbook. "It's quite a dangerous potion because it's so hard to reverse the effects."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. As Miss Evans said, this is a very dangerous potion so you must exercise extreme caution as you attempt to brew this Also, this potion is one of the most difficult you will ever come across. It is most likely that none of you will be successful in completing it within the hour. Try your best. I will be grading you on how close your attempt is. The potion recipe is on page one hundred and ninety six. Begin."

Lily began flipping to the right page in her textbook as Cait groaned over Slughorn's warning. Rose wasn't feeling much more enthusiastic about the potion than Cait but she was determined to give it a go, especially since they now had Lily at the table.

Her attempt at optimism turned out to be sorely misguided as the class went on. Even Lily seemed to be a bit out of her depth and it wasn't long before all four of their table's cauldrons had potions in them with varying colors. Lily's was vaguely purple, though not the lilac color it was supposed to be. Hers was a turquoise color and she decided that she would just settle for not blowing up her cauldron.

Even that turned out to be a lofty ambition. Ravenclaw Adrian Bishop's cauldron exploded not even twenty minutes from the end of class, spraying him and his tablemates with an angry red sludge. Slughorn adjourned the class early as the sludge starting spreading painful looking green boils on the affected students.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Rose had no protests against leaving early. She did, however, have some guilt about leaving the half a dozen injured students with only Slughorn to take care of them, She didn't mind him as a professor but he seemed like a bit of an idiot when it came to common sense.

"Professor, would you like some help getting them to Madam Pomfrey?" she offered with Lily short on her heels, ready to help.

"Yes, Professor, how can we help?" James bloody Potter was suddenly right there, eager to assist.

"Oh thank you. Miss Atwell, Mister Potter, I would appreciate it if you would take them up to the Hospital Wing. Miss Evans and I will begin cleaning up the mess," Slughorn agreed with a smile.

She wasn't sadistic enough to wish that Lily had been stuck with James but she couldn't say she was happy to be stuck with him either. Taking the injured students to the Hospital Wing gave her a good excuse not to speak to him, though.

Sadly, it was a quicker ordeal than she expected. Well, it was after she told Adrian to stop whinging about how much every step hurt. After all, it was him who blew up the cauldron in the first place. If he didn't want to be covered in boils then he should've been more careful.

They made it to the First Floor with barely an incident. Cleo Mayer, another Ravenclaw, had a little trouble walking towards the end due to the boils on her legs. Rose ended up half-dragging her up the last staircase.

James explained what happened to Madam Pomfrey, the school's Healer, as Rose manhandled Cleo into a hospital bed.

"Smart thinking bringing them straight to me. I'll get them sorted. You get along. Lunch should be starting soon," Pomfrey dismissed James and Rose as she flitted off to check to injuries.

Rose didn't need to be told twice. She wanted to get as far away from James as possible. She didn't care for being in the Hospital Wing longer than she needed to, either. It always made her a little anxious after she spent the better part of a week cooped up there the year before with Dragon Pox. It felt like she was bound to be admitted again if she stayed too long.

James followed behind her as she escaped the Hospital Wing. It'd be impossible to outrun him. His legs were much longer than hers and he was a Quidditch player. She had no illusions that he had better speed than she did.

"So, Atwell, I think we need to have a conversation," he informed her as she took the stairs two at a time.

"No thanks," she replied dismissively. "Maybe another time."

"No, I think now is a perfect time. You're a hard girl to get alone. Michelakis doesn't like to leave your side."

She didn't argue that this wasn't true and she'd spent plenty of time that day without Cait around. "Alright, Potter, fine. Get it out of your system. What kind of pathetic threats or blackmail would you like to use to try to get me to convince Lily you're worth her time? Better make it snappy. I won't be alone for long."

"You know you can't keep this up forever, right? You're stubborn, I'll give you that. But this is a year and a half we're talking about. You'll crack eventually," he warned her.

She gave him a humorless smile, "You really are shite at talking to women, aren't you? You have no idea how they work, do you?"

"Oh and what? You going to explain it to me?"

"I'll tell you that women don't like it when you try cramming ideas down their throat. You think Lily won't date you because what? She just likes being difficult? That you just haven't been insistent enough? You're an idiot," she informed him bluntly.

"Name-calling, Atwell? Very mature," he drawled. She could see the vein in his forehead twitch, though, and maybe she'd hit more of a nerve than she thought.

Not one to give in, even when she was ahead, she continued, "Lily isn't the kind of person who's going to change her mind because you try forcing an idea on her. She and I are kind of alike in that way, I guess. The more you try making her do something, the more she'll dig her heels in. So you go ahead. You harass me, threaten me, do whatever the bloody hell you think you need to do. All you'll be doing is furthering my conviction to do whatever the hell it takes to make sure you don't get what you want."

"You can't hold on forever," he repeated.

She smirked, "We'll see about that. I'll see you in Defense." She took the opportunity to take the last couple of stairs and finish the trek down to the Great Hall.

Cait and Mary had saved a seat for her. They didn't seem to see her come in, though. They were too busy eagerly enjoying the kitchen's offering of cold turkey and corned beef sandwiches.

"Potter's a wanker," she announced to her friends.

"Everyone knows that," Cait commented. "Pass the pumpkin juice."

 **Author's Note:**

 **I was having trouble with how lessons would have been scheduled through the day so I decided I was just going to do it my own way with two lessons in the morning and two in the afternoon after lunch. Well, not including astronomy.**

 **Anyways, that was chapter three. I'm going to start working immediately on the next chapter. I'm hoping to have it up within the week.**

 **E**


	4. Chapter 4

Mary lasted three days, which was longer than Rose expected her to, considering that the Marauders' attention seemed to be solely on her. Ceri seemed to be a little bitter about the loss of attention but it was right back on her as soon as Mary conceded.

"You did the right thing," Rose comforted a distraught Mary two days after she'd thrown in the towel. "No one blames you. It was just too much. That isn't your fault."

"Lily does," she sniffled. "I know she does. I let her down."

"No. No, Lily blames Potter for coming after you like that. Trust me, okay? Lily understands."

"If I wasn't like this then I would've been able to hold on," she complained, new tears surfacing. "I was stronger before -" she broke off in a sob.

Rose didn't have the heart to tell her that she agreed. Before Mulciber, she was stronger and less twitchy. She was still recovering from the trauma of his Imperius Curse practice. Rose couldn't bring herself to mention that, though.

"You're getting better," she reassured Mary instead. "It'll be easier to make progress without anyone gunning for you."

Mary nodded miserably, "I just want to be better."

"You'll get there," she told Mary, forcing herself to be optimistic.

Mary wiped the tears away, nodding, "Can we talk about something else? I already feel enough like a sheep's arse."

She agreed immediately, "Of course. What do you want to talk about?"

"How are you going to hold on for a year and a half. Cait's going to give in before you, you know."

She sighed. She did know. Cait's blaise personality meant that not much fazed her but it also meant that she didn't usually care enough to be stubborn. Eventually the "game" would lose its appeal and Cait wouldn't want to bother to play it anymore.

"I'll manage," she replied vaguely. "I haven't met a problem that I couldn't outlast."

Mary nodded in agreement, "I just hate you getting all that attention focused on you."

"If I'm lucky Potter'll break the bargain before it comes to that. He's been stalking her for years. That's got to be a hard habit to break. Or Snape might always kill him before then."

"Ooh, well a girl can dream, I suppose."

She laughed and nodded, "Too true. Now how do you say we take a break from all this bleeding studying and nip over to the kitchen? You look like you could use something chocolate."

Mary shut her book and nodded enthusiastically, "Yes please."

She and Rose left the library in search of food. It'd been a long time since the pair spent any considerable time alone. Usually Rose liked to have someone act as a buffer between them to help stop her from saying something insensitive. Her mother informed her multiple times that she was emotionally constipated and had the sympathetic capacity of a toadstool.

She still felt guilty for not being there enough after Mary's… incident. She'd tried to keep some distance to stop herself from saying something inconsiderate and doing more damage. She wasn't entirely sure if that plan worked or not. Still, she was determined to make up for her absence and it felt like a good day to start. She felt more confident in in her ability to be sensitive. Lessons had gone well and she'd gotten good marks on an essay in Potions, despite it being one of her worst subjects. Life was good.

"Do you have any plans for the holidays?" Mary questioned conversationally as they strolled to the dungeons.

"Probably just family gatherings. Dad hasn't sent me the official itinerary but I know he's got more than a few lined up," she replied. "He wants to show off his new girlfriend to everyone."

Mary, being a Pureblood, furrowed her brow. "'Girlfriend?' Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't realize something'd happened to your mum."

"Oh no. They're just divorced. She's off in Hollywood now, trying to be a Yank and hook herself a newer, younger husband. I reckon it's some sort of midlife crisis or something," she shrugged.

"Oh sorry," Mary told her with a sympathetic head tilt. "That must've been rough."

She waved it off, "Not as rough as when they were married."

They fell into a somewhat less-than-comfortable silence at her somewhat brutal honesty. She understood it wasn't something most Purebloods were comfortable talking about. She hadn't even been comfortable herself to admit how horrible it'd been until the divorce was finalized and she didn't have to convince herself that her parents had a functional marriage. Divorce was a Muggle concept but she figured it was probably a godsend for her family. Her dad was easier to live with now that he had Cynthia and her mum was easier to deal with now that the woman was across the pond.

"Is it really better now?" Mary questioned, tone hesitant and almost hushed like the topic was too taboo to talk about.

She wasn't surprised by Mary's curiosity. Everyone asked her about her parents' divorce with curious fascination. Unhappy marriages were something no one spoke about in the Wizarding World, especially in Pureblood families like her's. It was something that old women gossiped and whispered about.

She nodded, "Loads better." She didn't specify how there was less drinking at home now, less door slamming and less late nights spent calming Aggie down. That wasn't anything Mary needed to know about.

"Sometimes I think my parents should get divorced," Marry commened, voice soft and almost guilty. "They don't even sleep in the house anymore. I think my dad's sleeping around."

She wasn't exactly sure why Mary's seen fit to confide in her. She had never been the easiest to talk to. Aggie accused her of being unapproachable more than a couple times. She didn't necessarily find it an insult. Sebastian was too approachable, always attracting nutters who wanted to tell him their life stories. She preferred it when strangers didn't feel comfortable making conversation.

"My mum finished off the marriage by shagging an Italian photographer. Apparently Dad could handle being unhappy but he wouldn't tolerate the insult to his pride," she offered. "Granted, she didn't even try to cover up the affair. He might've overlooked if she hadn't forced him to react."

"Do you -" Mary cut herself off. She gave Rose an apologetic smile and flushed. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

Rose shrugged. She was a bit desensitized about talking about the divorce. Every aunt, uncle, second cousin, and family friend had already interrogated about it after it was announced. It'd bothered her at first but she got over it about the fifty second time someone asked.

"Don't worry about it. You can ask. I'll only hex you if it's too personal," she told Mary, giving her a smile to show that she was joking.

"Do you ever worry that the divorce will… Dunno. Stop you from ever getting married?"

It wasn't the first time she'd heard the idea. It _was_ the first time anyone ever asked her how she felt on the subject. Mostly her maternal grandmum just cried about how Rose would never have a healthy marriage now or Great Uncle Simon worried how the divorce would turn her and Aggie in commitment-phobic slags.

She shrugged again, "I'm not worried about it. My parents didn't get divorced because marriage didn't work. Theirs just didn't. They were too unwilling to admit what was really wrong and they let things fester. I don't see me having the same problem."

Mary laughed and shook her head, "No, I suppose not. Remember when Lily wouldn't talk to you because you told her that her perfume smelled like there were decomposing bodies under the floorboards? I don't think you'll ever have trouble not telling people when you think something's wrong."

"Yeah, that - Wait. Lily wasn't talking to me after that?" She remembered telling the redhead she didn't care for the putrid, musky perfume. She _might_ have made a reference to the smell of rotting flesh. She didn't remember Lily reacting really at all. There might have been some eye-rolling but that was it.

Mary dissolved into giggles, "You really are thick sometimes. I swear it's like you can only tell if someone's angry because they yell at you."

"What?" She didn't care much for being called "thick". _That_ she considered to be an insult.

"Honestly, sometimes it's like you're a bloke. Rose, sometimes women aren't always upfront about their feelings. Not everyone's anger is transparent. When someone goes out of their way not to talk to you then they're usually mad or at least upset."

She furrowed her brow, "Lily almost never speaks to me? Well, I suppose she does more now but that was years ago. How was I supposed to know she was not talking more than usual?"

"Absolutely useless," Mary sighed, reminding her more of the Mary before the Mulciber incident. She seemed more comfortable, less anxious someone was going to jump out and get her.

That openness was gone the moment that the corridor was filled with the echos of cruel laughter. Mary instinctively took a step closer to her.

She had a feeling that her current streak of going six weeks without getting a detention for duelling was about to be over. She didn't mourn the lull in her disciplinary history. Her fingers were already gripping the wand in her back pocket.

"Oh look. McDonald and Atwell decided to grace the dungeons with their presence." It was Laurence Avery, one of the Slytherins and future Death Eaters. "Looks like we've got a two-for-one sale on blood traitors."

His girlfriend, Della Pritchard, who had the face and matching personality of an inbred feeder rat, laughed. She was aggressive, probably had at least two too many toes, and would likely be chewed up and spat out once the Death Eaters realized she was useless to their cause.

"Vinnie'll be sorry he missed you, Mary," she told Mary with mocking disappointment. "If you want, I'll go get him."

"Sod off," Rose told the pair. It was rare to only see the two Slytherins, especially ones as predatory as these two. They usually hunted in packs.

"Ooh, someone's feisty today. I'm not sure I could handle even being seen in public if my family was the shame of the Wizarding World, let alone draw attention to myself," Pritchard told Rose, murky brown eyes gleaming.

"You're boring me," Rose replied dismissively, not rising to the taunts. "Either say something worth using the oxygen or get out of my way."

"I don't think I care for your attitude, blood traitor," Avery informed her with a snarl. "I think I might need to teach you how to respect your superiors."

"'Superiors?' Who? You? Oh, that's a laugh."

"Rose, don't," Mary pleaded, brown eyes wide. "Just leave it."

"Yeah, Atwell, listen to your fellow traitor," Pritchard sneered. "You wouldn't want to start something you can't finish."

She was quite certain that she was getting tired of these Slytherins' arrogance and insinuation that they were better than her in any way. It wasn't exactly a fair fight against the two of them but she'd try not to beat them in _too_ humiliating of fashion. Or, well, maybe she would. She couldn't quite decide yet.

"Mary, you should go up to the Hospital Wing. Tell Pomfrey she's going to need two beds free. I'll be sending her a couple of new patients posthaste," she told the terrified girl evenly.

Mary scampered away as the corridor erupted with hexes and jinxes. Bolts of light bounced off the wall and Rose's Shield Charm. Pritchard and Avery were quicker than the last time she'd duelled with them but she was one of the best duellists in the school. Her reflexes had come from situations like these. Years of picking fights with bigger targets had given her plenty of opportunities to hone her timing.

"Flipendo!" she casted at Pritchard, sending the girl flying backwards and landing hard on the stone floor.

With his girlfriend whimpering and immobile on the floor, Avery came after Rose with a newfound fervor. His passion, however, didn't help his aim. "Confringo!" he yelled but she was ready for him, deflecting the curse. It hit the dungeon wall instead, fragment of stone to litter the floor.

She retaliated with a Full-Body Bind followed by a Stinging Jinx, causing his forehead to swell as he hit the floor. She almost felt guilty for taking him out so quickly but that was quelled by the reminder that he tried to blow her up.

"Merlin, Atwell, someone needs to work on their rage issues," James Potter… Of all the idiots to show up at that moment, she would've preferred Slughorn to James. "What have we here? Duelling in the corridor? Tsk tsk. You know, that doesn't reflect well on our House."

She rolled her eyes and turned to give him an unimpressed look. He was flanked by Remus and Peter. She was surprised not to find Sirius there, though. She quickly dismissed his absence, though, as being because he was trying to seduce Nina or Ceri. "Hypocrisy doesn't look good on you, Potter. Doesn't suit your skin tone."

"You know, Moony here is a Prefect and he's under strict orders to dole out punishment to violent miscreants like you," he told her, ignoring her jab. "Of course, if you were to tell Lily to go out with me then he'd be willing to look the other way on this whole rubbish. In fact, he might even give you House Points for making Avery easier to look at."

Her eyebrows rose up her forehead. Using Remus' status as bribery (or was it blackmail?) was definitely upping the game to a new level. Still, she preferred it to Sirius trying to seduce her.

"You know, Lupin, why don't you write me up for the detention. I think my social calendar's clear and I'm sure you've got a quota to fill. Oh, and be a dear and talk care of this little mess, would you?" She gestured to Avery and Pritchard, who were both still on the ground. "Violent miscreants like me can't be trusted with something so important. Laters."

To say she felt smug as she strode out of the dungeon would be an understatement. The Marauders would have to be cleverer if they wanted to force her hand.

Mary was waiting anxiously for her at the staircase, joined now by Lily and Ceri. "There you are," Mary let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried."

She shrugged nonchalantly because she hadn't been. "It was just Pritchard and Avery."

"You should be more careful," Lily told her, though not unkindly. "There's a war going on. You don't want to take on more than you can handle."

"It was just Pritchard and Avery," she repeated because that should've been all she needed to say.

"You used to say the same thing about Mulciber," Ceri pointed out. "And we all know what he's capable of."

She didn't point out that Mulciber hadn't been capable of casting an Unforgivable Curse. He'd only been capable of wanting to, which put him on par with almost every other wannabe Death Eater at Hogwarts. Still, she didn't say that because Mary looked uncomfortable enough with Ceri just mentioning Mulciber and she didn't want to sound like she was trivializing what Mary went through.

"We're off to the library if you two want to join," Lily offered, changing the topic to a less disturbing subject.

"Oh well we were going to the kitchens but I - Well, plans change," Mary replied, though she didn't look too thrilled at the idea of returning to studying.

"I could use to study a little more before we leave for the holidays," Rose nodded in agreement. The little tussle in the dungeons had been an even better break than a trip to the kitchens. "And I'd rather not go back to the dungeons and risk having to deal with Potter and his merry band of bloody morons again."

"Potter was there?" That seemed to have piqued Lily's attention. "Why?"

"To try to blackmail me into telling you to date him," she replied, starting on her way towards the library. Loitering in the corridor to talk about boys was a little too cliche for her taste.

The other girls followed behind her as they trekked the castle. "What do you mean 'blackmail'?" Lily questioned, emerald eyes narrowed.

"Oh he just tried telling me that Lupin would've give me a detention for dueling if I gave into him. Or maybe it was blackmail? Dunno. There was a promise of House Points too. Anyways, don't worry about it. It'll take more than threatening me with detention to make me give him what he wants."

"Remus is abusing his powers as Prefect?" Lily sounded absolutely flabbergasted at the idea.

"Dunno. He didn't threaten or agree to anything. He didn't even speak. It was just Potter making offers," she shrugged. "No idea what he'd have done if I'd agreed."

"Well thank Merlin I have you in this mess. You may be one of the only people in this school more stubborn than even Potter. I mean that in the very best way, of course. Thank you for this."

"And thank you, Lily, for giving us this opportunity to have leverage on the Marauders," Ceri commented before letting out a blissful sigh. "I have lots of plan for what to do with that power."

"Well I'm glad someone is enjoying this," Lily remarked, sounding almost bitter as the group passed a group of First Years trading Famous Witches and Wizards Cards.

Rose raised a dubious eyebrow, "You aren't enjoying Potter leaving you alone? Because we can remedy that if you want."

"No, no. I mean, it's been a nice break and I appreciate you doing this for me. It's been kind of an eerie calm though. I guess I hadn't given much thought to the fact I was giving up my control over the situation when I came up with this. It's a bit unnerving to think if he manages to get all of your approvals then I've given away my right to say no."

"Peace comes at a price," Ceri replied, less-than-sympathetic as she adjusted the barrette in her blond, pixie-like hair.

"Think about it this way, Lily. All you promised him was a date. If he manages to weasel his way into getting our approvals then all you have to do is go on a date with him. I'm not promising it'll be a lovely time but it won't be the end of the world. You didn't even promise him anything about how long the date with last or that you wouldn't end it five minutes in by throwing a Butterbeer in his face. You'll be fine," Rose assured her.

Lily hummed contemplatively, "Good point."

"I tend to make those from time to time," Rose commented dismissively as they entered the library. "Now can we please just find a table and study without anymore talk about that prat? It's like I can't escape him anymore."

"Lovely idea," Lily agreed.

Finding a table was harder than usual. It seemed that every Seventh Year in the castle was bunkered down in the library, trying to get into extra studying before the holidays. Ceri managed to get them a table in a crowded corner after doing several rounds of the library.

"Thank Merlin I decided to drop Transfiguration after O.W.L.s. I have my hands full with Potions and Defense," Ceri commented as she watched Lily and Rose study for their exam about Human Transfiguration.

Ceri hadn't "decided" not to take Transfiguration. Her O.W.L.s has been too low and McGonagall had refused to let her take the class. Rose graciously didn't mention that, though.

"What I don't understand is the whole Animagus form thing. I mean, do Animagi pick out their form or is there a special ritual for different forms? Like is the process different for becoming a bird rather than a fish?" Mary pondered as she scratched out parts of her notes.

"It's like a Patronus. It's not a choice. It's based on your personality," Rose replied because at least she knew that much on the subject.

"It's the same process for everyone," Lily added.

"Speaking of Patronuses, Professor Baines is starting the Patronus Charm chapter next month," Ceri commented, eyes lighting up as she mentioned the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Professor Baines was an attractive Welshman and barely in his thirties, making him the youngest professor on the staff. Despite his age, he was also one of the most competent professors they had. "What do you think your Patronus is?"

"I'm never going to find out," Mary commented mournfully as she chewed absently on his quill. The crow of a librarian gave them a pointed look, making Mary drop her volume. "I'll never be good enough at Defense to create a Patronus."

"Rubbish," Lily dismissed her pessimistic thoughts. "You'll be fine. It might just take extra practice."

"My Patronus is going to be majestic," Ceri informed the table, redirecting the attention back to her. "Like a unicorn or a dolphin."

"Baboon might be more likely," Rose muttered, causing Lily to giggle and Ceri to scowl at her.

"Oh really? And what do you think yours'll be exactly, Atwell?" Ceri demanded sharply, looking down at Rose through her small, turned up nose as she crossed her arms.

"There you are," Cait announced as she dropped into an empty seat next to Lily. Marlene and Nine joined her, sitting next to Ceri, who still looked offended. "We've been looking for you for ages."

"Hi," Marlene greeted the table, none of her textbooks in sight. She didn't even seem to be paying attention to what was going around her or where she was. She had a giddy spaced out look as she twirled her blond hair around her finger.

"Ignore her," Cait informed them. "She's drunk on hormones and young love. What were you talking about?"

"What our Patronuses might be," Lily answered. "Ceri seems to think hers is going to be a unicorn."

"Oh, that's easy. Mine's going to be a dragon," Cait replied confidently, like her belief could will it into reality.

Lily and Rose shared a dubious look but made no effort to dissuade her. It wasn't much that she was anything but aloof about. Rose didn't want to ruin that.

"You still haven't answered, Atwell," Ceri pointed out, her usually faint Welsh accent sharper than usual.

"Dunno. Probably something normal, not awe inspiring. Like, dunno, a beaver or cat or something."

"I hope I'm not a spider or a snake or anything creepy," Nina commented with a shudder.

"I just don't want to be fat," Ceri admitted. "Like a hippo or an elephant or something like that."

The librarian hushed them with a violent hiss, giving them a death glare that caused Nina and Mary to shrink in their seats.

"Her Patronus is a pit viper," Rose muttered, causing Mary and Ceri to giggle while Cait smirked and Lily tried not to laugh. It almost made her miss when they were younger and the seven of them would spend time together. Maybe they weren't so bad.

"Did you see Black's arse yesterday? Very grabbable," Ceri commented to the table, earning murmurs of agreement.

Okay, maybe they were.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I know that this chapter is overdue. I didn't abandon you! I got distracted with Camp NaNo… And, well, life in general.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was nice to take some time to look more into Rose and her background, getting to flesh her out more. There will be more Marauders in the next chapter, where I will be falling back on a cliche that most Marauder Era fanfics use. Also, Aggie will make her debut. I bet you were starting to wonder if she actually exists or if she was a figment of Rose's imagination.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and it was worth the wait. I'm planning on getting the next chapter out much faster than this one. I've already got a good idea of what I want and the first 1000-ish words written. I'll try not to get distracted again.**

 **Until then,**

 **Evy**


End file.
